{.o6} {Vow :ღ: Pierce Villiers}

It was a rather well-known fact that she absolutely couldn't stand the dormouse. It wasn't like she even kept it a secret either. Every faceless employee, possibly even the Amusement Park role holders themselves, were aware that she found Pierce Villiers simply annoying.

That was why she couldn't possibly understand why she of all people was given the task of consoling Pierce.

Was Gowland insane? She understood that having a hysterical dormouse was not very productive, but really? Giving her such a troublesome task?

If she didn't need this job, she would honestly consider lashing out at her tone-deaf employer and giving him a piece of her mind.

'Really? Why can't the mouse just man up already?' she thought irately as she neared his room, his cries slowly becoming more coherent. 'If he wasn't such a little chicken and went hysterical every time Boris scares him, we wouldn't even be having this problem.'

She breathed in a copious amount of air when she found herself right before Pierce's door, calming the growing annoyance in her raging heart.

She slowly opened the door… to find herself immediately suffocated in Pierce's death grip. "WAH! Save me!"

"Rat, let me go! I can't breathe!" she cried, fighting to get the wailing mouse off of her.

He then promptly released her, regarding her annoyed countenance with curious, watery green eyes. He then released a squeak of happiness and hugged her. "Oh! I'm so glad you of all people came! I'm saved!"

"Pierce, let me go now before someone gets hurt!" Even at the sound of her threat, Pierce clung onto her as if his very life depended on it. She exhaled a sharp breath and said as calmly as she possibly could, "Since you seem fine now, maybe you can let me go so I can go back to work. I'm very busy."

At the very suggestion, the dormouse's grip on her grew tighter. "No! You can't leave me now! I need you to stay with me and protect me!"

She argued the opposite. "No, you don't. I'm not paid to babysit you. I have work to do."

"B… but I thought you loved me."

The faceless girl fought a furious flush of her cheeks as she indignantly shouted, "W… What? How in the world did you come up with such an absurd notion?"

"Well… you gave me some of your cheese! That is always an expression of love!"

She barely resisted the urge to smack the mouse. "If I recall correctly, you simply took my cheese in the most irritating way possible and declared that you loved me."

He innocently proclaimed, "But, I do love you."

Feeling a warmth creep up her neck, the employee managed to liberate herself from his embrace and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, I'll stay only for a few more moments only because I'm craving coffee. Want some?"

Seeing Pierce nod his head, the faceless girl promptly turned on her heels and darted off.

Her pace through the hall was furious and even she found herself still fuming as she brewed the coffee.

"Stupid dormouse," she grumbled irately, glaring at the two piping cups. "Bringing up even stupider things like that…"

"Ah, so you're the one on Pierce duty." The Amusement Park employee jumped at the sound of another voice, turning around to meet a certain feline's golden stare.

"Oh, Boris, please don't remind me. I'm irritated as it is, and I would appreciate if you didn't irritate me even further," she growled.

The Cheshire Cat only grinned. "Ah, so taking care of the baby is as interesting as I thought it would be. You know, I personally think it's just a trick. The mousy baby is using some lame excuse just to be with you. He does seem rather fond of you anyway."

"He's like that with everyone… with the exception of you, of course. He seems to love everyone if they let him," she said in a low voice before adding fiercely, "Besides, Pierce isn't always a baby. He can be brave when he wants to be… though those occasions are very rare..."

The girl stopped herself from saying any further, surprised at what was coming out of her mouth. What in the world was she doing? She couldn't be possibly… defending the rat? Such a notion disturbed her.

Boris regarded her with shock before grinning even wider. "Huh… that's what you think, eh? It seems maybe I should prove you otherwise." Before she could even react, she found herself pinned against the wall, Boris's hands firmly held on her wrists like manacles. She felt trapped. "Well I surely have to knock some sense into you if you think that rat is a man. I can surely show you otherwise…"

Her breath was suddenly caught in her throat. She shut her eyes closed, waiting for the cat to lean forward and close the distance between them.

Gratefully, she felt nothing. Was he just joking? She knew that feline was a joker, but if he dared frightening her in such a deplorable manner…

She jumped and snapped her eyes open when she noticed Boris suddenly released her and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

And who did she see standing before her?

"P… Pierce?" If she had lids, she certainly would have blinked them.

"G… get off of her!" Pierce cried in a shaky voice, his breath coming out in erratic bursts.

Lying on the floor, Boris gently massaged his face and tried processing what exactly happened. The faceless girl could not believe it. 'Did that crybaby rat actually punch Boris?'

"You damn rodent… Rat, how dare you punch me! What the hell was that for?" he growled furiously. He slowly rose to his feet, his golden orbs narrowed, making him appear ominous and threatening.

The red-haired Villiers squeaked once, but attempted to retain his resolve and appear strong. "I… I told you t… that I didn't like you on her like that."

"Oh yeah, you stupid rat? You know what I don't like? Getting punched in the face!" He furiously stalked towards him, glaring daggers at the mouse. "Oh, wait until I get my hands on you…"

"I think you've done quite enough." Boris suddenly was pulled back by his shirt and slowly dragged away from them.

"Let me go, old man! The rat punched me! He deserves to die! It wasn't like I actually meant to do anything anyway!"

"And you deserve to be put back to work for harassing my employees," Gowland chastised him, meeting his golden glare with his green leer. "You know I get rather upset when you prevent my workers from doing their job and you from doing yours, you lazy feline. I don't care if you meant it or not."

Watching Gowland drag the infuriated cat away, the employee released a relieved breath of air.

"Wow, dormouse, I have to say thanks for what you did for me. I never knew that you actually had it…"

She then began to notice the Villiers was shaking, progressively more violently as more time passed. His face seemed as white as a sheet of paper. "S… scary…"

"Pierce?"

"S… so… sc… scary." The young employee squeaked in surprise when she felt a pair of shaking arms wrap themselves around her person. "Wah! Boris is so scary!"

"Mouse, if you're just going to whine about it and make me regret thanking you, then why in the world did you do it?" she asked him bluntly.

She felt herself tense when he raised his big, green eyes towards her, "It's because I love you! I took this solemn vow to protect you no matter how scary things get… even from scary, mean cats like Boris."

Seeing that innocence in his face, the fiery resolve in his eyes, she couldn't help, but smile.

'Maybe… he's not so annoying after all.'

At the moment, she found herself touched in a place she never thought possible. Her clock heart actually felt warm and skipped a beat.

Then she just couldn't help herself. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

YEAH! GO PIERCE! xD

Sequel to Love from Wonders of the Heart.

Thanks for reading~